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The Benefits of Pesticides: A Valuable Tool for Good Living

The Benefits of Pesticides: A Valuable Tool for Good Living. RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) ® June 2007. Introduction. A necessary component to maintaining everyday life Benefits often go unnoticed Contributions to society include: Protecting property

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The Benefits of Pesticides: A Valuable Tool for Good Living

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  1. The Benefits of Pesticides:A Valuable Tool for Good Living RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment)® June 2007

  2. Introduction • A necessary component to maintaining everyday life • Benefits often go unnoticed • Contributions to society include: • Protecting property • Preventing disease • Putting dinner on the table • Improving quality-of-life

  3. Key Areas of Public Benefit • Public Health • Property Protection • Biodiversity and Wildlife Habitat • Aquatic Systems • Strengthening Society • Transportation and Utilities

  4. How Pesticides Maintain Public Health • Disease control • Eliminate dangerous pests and weeds • Protect food supplies • Keep drinking water free from microorganisms

  5. How Pesticides Protect Property • Save $ millions in structural and property damage • Protect plants and natural investments • Keep collections and historic documents from being lost

  6. Protecting Wildlife Habitat • Control exotic pests and imported threats to ecosystems • Help growers produce more by using less land • Make no-till farming possible – reduces erosion and runoff to lakes and streams

  7. Aquatic Weed Control • Aquatic weeds can destroy wildlife habitat • Interfere with hydroelectric production • Improve water quality, navigation lanes and property values

  8. How Pesticides Strengthen our Society • Help maintain a diverse and specialized economy • Keep parks, public spaces and lakes free from dangerous plants and pests • Make us more competitive in the global market

  9. Protect Transportation Lines and Utilities • Eliminate brush around traffic signs and roadsides. • Control vegetation that disrupts water runoff • Suppress growth and remove plants that interfere with utility service

  10. Purpose and Safety • Designed to serve a specific purpose • A long and extensive testing process • Products must be registered by the Environmental Protection Agency

  11. The Pesticide Registration Process

  12. A Pesticide Comes to Market • Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) – requires EPA review of all pesticide products • EPA investigates potential risks for plants, humans, pets, the environment and more

  13. EPA Registration Process:By the Numbers • 8 to 10 years – average duration of entire development and testing process of each new pesticide • $150 to $185 million – average cost of testing, evaluation, EPA registration, label approval • 1 in 140,000 – number of potential products that successfully makes it from the lab to the market

  14. The Label is the Law • EPA oversees label development for each registered product • Label contains explicit directions for use • Additional tests and re-registration are often required

  15. Specific Benefits of Pesticide Use

  16. Controlling Cockroaches • Roaches produce many harmful allergens • Linked to Asthma in children • Transmit a variety of digestive tract disorders • Pesticides help eliminate these threats

  17. Controlling Mosquitoes • Mosquitoes carry and spread a host of diseases • West Nile virus, malaria, dengue fever and encephalitis can all be deadly • Pesticides help control populations in high-risk areas

  18. Reducing Risk of Rodents • 45,000 people are treated for rat bites annually • Rodents spread hantavirus, food poisoning, typhus and other diseases • Responsible for fires and property damage • Pesticides help eliminate this threat

  19. Controlling Poisonous Plants • More than half of Americans are allergic to poisonous plants • Poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac cause severe skin rashes, irritations, itching and blistering • Herbicides can eliminate these weeds around homes and businesses

  20. Taking Care of Termites • Termites attack more than 600,000 homes each year • Responsible for $1.5 billion in property damage • Insecticides help protect homes and businesses

  21. Protecting Against Ticks • Transmit deadly diseases – Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever • $Millions in tick-related health care costs each year • Insecticides can reduce risk and protect against tick bites

  22. Controlling Stinging Insects • Responsible for more deaths than snake bites • Fire ants send 60,000 Americans to the Emergency Room annually • Pesticides reduce risk of ants, wasps and others in public and private areas

  23. Pesticides are a Necessity • Pesticides are not a threat to people, pets or the environment • Freedom to choose the products that you want to use • Part of an effective Integrated Pest Management approach

  24. Use the Products YOU Choose • Pesticides provide consumers with a choice • Unconventional, Conventional and a combination of products • Everything is in the mix, lets keep it that way

  25. Pesticides are a Necessity • Gasoline, cleaning products, medicine all contribute to quality-of-life • Pesticides do the same

  26. Thank You! RISE 1156 15th St. N.W., Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20005 Tel. (202) 872-3860 www.pestfacts.org www.schoolpestfacts.org www.westnilevirusfacts.org

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